Ancient Near East Facts for Kids

A statue of Gudea, a prince from an ancient city called Lagash.

The Ancient Near East was a very important part of the world, often called one of the "cradles of civilization." This means it was one of the first places where human societies grew into complex civilizations. People here first started farming all year round. This led to the creation of the first big cities.

Many things we know today began in the Ancient Near East. This includes ideas like different social classes and strong central governments. Empires also started here, along with organized religions and even organized warfare.

This region also saw the invention of the first writing systems. The first alphabet and the first money were created here. Early laws and important discoveries in astronomy and mathematics also came from this area. And don't forget the invention of the wheel!

Pottery from the early Copper Age.

Over time, the states in the Ancient Near East grew bigger and bigger. Eventually, powerful empires took control of many different cultures. These empires were often very focused on their armies.

Ancient civilizations in this area believed strongly in their spiritual ideas. They thought that gods and goddesses influenced everything on Earth. They also believed in telling the future, which was called divination. Important events and predictions were often written down in places like ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The Ancient Near East covered a large area. It included places like Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and nearby countries). It also included ancient Egypt, and parts of Iran (like Elam and Persia). Other areas were Anatolia (modern Turkey) and the Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan). Cyprus and the Arabian Peninsula were also part of it.

The history of the Ancient Near East usually starts with the rise of Sumer around 4000 BC. It covers the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Historians have different ideas about when this period ended. Some say it was when the Achaemenid Empire conquered the region in the 6th century BC. Others say it was with the Macedonian Empire in the 4th century BC. Some even say it ended with the Muslim conquests in the 7th century AD.

The name "Ancient Near East" came about in the 1800s. It helped people tell the difference between the "Near East" and the "Far East." These were important regions for the British Empire at the time.

Time Periods of the Ancient Near East

Historians divide the long history of the Ancient Near East into different time blocks. This helps us understand the changes that happened over many centuries.

Copper Age	Chalcolithic (4500 – 3300 BC)	Early Chalcolithic	4500 – 4000 BC	Ubaid period in Mesopotamia
Copper Age	Chalcolithic (4500 – 3300 BC)	Late Chalcolithic	4000 – 3300 BC	Ghassulian, Sumerian Uruk period in Mesopotamia, Gerzeh, Predynastic Egypt, Proto-Elamite
Bronze Age (3300 – 1200 BC)	Early Bronze Age (3300 – 2100 BC)	Early Bronze Age I	3300 – 3000 BC	Protodynastic to Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, settlement of Phoenicians
		Early Bronze Age II	3000 – 2700 BC	Early Dynastic Period of Sumer
		Early Bronze Age III	2700 – 2200 BC	Old Kingdom of Egypt, Akkadian Empire, early Assyria, Old Elamite period, Sumero-Akkadian states
		Early Bronze Age IV	2200 – 2100 BC	First Intermediate Period of Egypt
	Middle Bronze Age (2100 – 1550 BC)	Middle Bronze Age I	2100 – 2000 BC	Third Dynasty of Ur
		Middle Bronze Age II A	2000 – 1750 BC	Minoan civilization, early Babylonia, Egyptian Middle Kingdom
		Middle Bronze Age II B	1750 – 1650 BC	Second Intermediate Period of Egypt
		Middle Bronze Age II C	1650 – 1550 BC	Hittite Old Kingdom, Minoan eruption
	Late Bronze Age (1550 – 1200 BC)	Late Bronze Age I	1550 – 1400 BC	Hittite Middle Kingdom, Hayasa-Azzi, Middle Elamite period, New Kingdom of Egypt
		Late Bronze Age II A	1400 – 1300 BC	Hittite New Kingdom, Mitanni, Hayasa-Azzi, Ugarit, Mycenaean Greece
		Late Bronze Age II B	1300 – 1200 BC	Middle Assyrian Empire, beginning of the high point of Phoenicians
Iron Age (1200 – 539 BC)	Iron Age I (1200 – 1000 BC)	Iron Age I A	1200 – 1150 BC	Troy VII, Hekla 3 eruption, Bronze Age collapse, Sea Peoples
	Iron Age I (1200 – 1000 BC)	Iron Age I B	1150 – 1000 BC	Neo-Hittite states, Neo Elamite period, Aramean states
	Iron Age II (1000 – 539 BC)	Iron Age II A	1000 – 900 BC	Greek Dark Ages, traditional date of the United Monarchy of Israel
		Iron Age II B	900 – 700 BC	Kingdom of Israel, Urartu, Phrygia, Neo-Assyrian Empire, Kingdom of Judah, first settlement of Carthage
		Iron Age II C	700 – 539 BC	Neo-Babylonian Empire, Median Empire, fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Phoenicia, Archaic Greece, rise of Achaemenid Persia
Classical antiquity (post-ANE) (539 BC – 634 AD)		Achaemenid	539 – 330 BC	Persian Achaemenid Empire
		Hellenistic & Parthian	330 – 31 BC	Macedonian Empire, Seleucid Empire, Kingdom of Pergamon, Ptolemaic Kingdom, Parthian Empire
		Roman & Persian	31 BC – 634 AD	Roman–Persian Wars, Roman Empire, Parthian Empire, Sassanid Empire, Byzantine Empire, Muslim conquests

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An overview map of the ancient Near East.

Ancient Near East facts for kids

Time Periods of the Ancient Near East

Images for kids

See also